1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to systems and methods for maintaining a stock of products on shelves in a retail environment.
2. Background of the Invention
A large store chain may make merchandising decisions for a large number of stores at a global level. However, local or regional management may also have some autonomy to carry products. For instance, products that suit local tastes or that are produced locally may be carried by an individual store or stores in a particular geographic region. It may not be feasible for these locally carried products to be reported to global management or global server systems. These products present an obstacle to a large retailer that wishes to integrate web services with a customer's retail experience inasmuch as data for these locally carried products is not available in global databases. Likewise, it is not feasible for each local store to maintain the expert staff needed to integrate these products into web services.
The systems and methods described herein provide an improved approach for integrating locally carried products into web services provided to retail customers.